BEHIND THE WHEEL/Acura NSX-T; Refreshment for Two In a Pop-Top Container

IT goes without saying that exotic cars require money. But the four-wheeled fantasies of the world also call for something more. They require time.

When you drive such a beastie, there is no short stop for gas, no drop-it-and-run at the parking garage. Whatever the destination, you have to allot time to talk about The Car.

When it's in the driveway, you have neighbors who want to deposit fingerprints on the flanks and breathe on the glass. In my case, too, there was the teen-ager who yakked and yakked, who finally offered $5, then $20, then $50 just for a ride in the latest rocket.

The object of his affection was a screaming red NSX-T, a doff-top version of the mid-engined sports car that Honda's Acura division trotted out in 1990. For '95, the technology has been honed, and the "T" stands for targa, which is to say that the car is now available with a lift-off metal roof. But it still looks like the coupe, and for my money, that means it looks better than anything else on the road.

Up front, concealed headlights hide in a low nose that sweeps back over a sharply raked windshield. At the rear, a thin spoiler spans the trunk, and there are now huge round exhaust tips, one on each side of the rear grille.

The body is aluminum and so is the chassis, all of it weighing about 40 percent less than steel, but with the same rigidity and impact protection. Lightness and stiffness were two of Acura's original goals in the NSX, both for performance and for fuel economy, and the engineers succeeded.

With the removable roof, however, more engineering was needed, and reinforcements have been added. As a result, the "T" weighs about 100 pounds more than the coupe, but the company says the body remains stiffer than every competitor's.

Those competitors actually are few, since the midengine NSX has carved out a tiny niche in an already small segment of the market. Porsche, with German luxury and rear-engine performance, is certainly one vehicle that might be considered, along with the home-grown Corvette. But those cars have their own personalities and their own fans. The Japanese NSX is more a stylish stiletto, more like the far-pricier Ferrari.

Not that the NSX-T is cheap, you understand. The base sticker price is $81,720 with the manual transmission that the test car had. An automatic will add $3,500, and other accessories like a compact-disk changer, telephone and keyless-entry system can run the bill up another $3,000. Pretty soon, that targa-roofed beauty looks like real money.

The roof, a 19-pound aluminum panel, is held with latches above each door. It stows in a compartment over the engine and under the rear window, and like most such arrangements, it is something of a pain. The roof is light enough, but it rides backwards in its compartment, and that means turning it and managing the various lids.

One good thing is that storage of the top doesn't deduct from room in the trunk, which is behind the engine, and the car has surprising cargo space for its size and configuration. You can't, however, stand a grocery bag up in it.

Inside, it's a different story. A padded door on the right side of the dash promises a glove box, but the passenger air bag sticks down so far that the "box" behind the large door is really just a slot for the owner's manual. And a shallow bin in the console between the seats would hold only a thin cellular phone or a fat wallet, nothing more.

Likewise, the "engine compartment" up front is of no use for cargo, filled as it is with the radiator, suspension parts and the anti-lock braking system, which has enough tanks and tubes for a modest distillery.

The tiny space-saver spare is there as well, and it comes sans air -- to give you an idea of the tight quarters. A small inflator plugs into the cigarette lighter socket to pump it up in case of emergency, but one wonders what one would do with the full-size flat.

Groceries and convenience are not what you buy such a car for, of course. You buy this car for its swoopy body, its spectacular engine and its road manners.

The 3-liter V6 (all-aluminum, naturally) produces 270 horsepower when mated to the standard five-speed stick, and 252 horsepower with this year's optional Sportshift auto-manual transmission. Technology under the rear hood is nothing short of amazing, and the ignition system of the hand-built 24-valve engine uses individual coils on each spark plug instead of a single coil for the entire system.

Connecting rods are made of light titanium alloy, common in racing engines but unheard of in production cars. And computerized hydraulics change the profile of the overhead cams according to the need for power. A new "drive by wire" system also replaces the conventional gas-pedal cable arrangement with electronics, making the cruise control more precise.

Power goes to the road through molded alloy wheels, 16 inches in front and 17 inches in back. The wheels have open spokes that reveal the big disk brakes, and there are high-speed tires, fat and gummy but with a low, low profile. Tire wear has been a problem for the NSX, and the tires are very expensive, but if you have to ask . . .

On the road, the car sticks like a Formula Ford racer, and there is that terrific growl behind you, especially when you wind the engine in second gear. One problem, of course, is that the growl gets you going quicker than you may want to go, and you really do have to watch it, at least in terms of keeping your license.

In every other way, the car will take care of you. Engine placement gives the NSX a near-perfect equilibrium, and the low seating and low center of gravity are good for everything but getting in or out. It is truly hard to get out of this car -- but then you don't really want to.

As for the neighborhood teen-ager, I took him for a ride, but I didn't take his money. I won't say I wasn't tempted.

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A version of this article appears in print on July 9, 1995, on Page 11011001 of the National edition with the headline: BEHIND THE WHEEL/Acura NSX-T; Refreshment for Two In a Pop-Top Container. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe